We recently connected with Stacy Bunting and have shared our conversation below.

Stacy, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career

The education system is struggling and in most cases due to no fault of their own. Schools are underfunded, understaffed and teachers are taking on roles that go far beyond their job description to help their students succeed.

Before any changes can be made, the system needs to find solid ground to build on. This requires support from their communities and proper funding. Teachers need to be able to focus on teaching, while additional roles need to be filled by people who are trained, hired and paid for those positions. Once a proper foundation is in place to introduce any kind of change, I believe we then need to take a more customized approach to learning.

My senior year was a bit different than most, the first few years of high school were spent slacking, socializing and giving the adults in my life more gray hair than they deserved. During my freshman year, I developed an interest in photo editing. This interest quickly grew into a distraction during school hours and my favorite after school activity. By the end of my junior year, my grades were terrible and my teachers were fed up, but my little hobby was still going strong. At this point there was one teacher who still held on to any hope for me. He was determined to push me through just one final year, even though I was clearly on the path to becoming a high school dropout.

I can still remember the conversation of compromise and the moment everything changed. It turns out this dedicated and determined teacher was coming up with a plan of his own. He approached the school guidance counselor and laid it all out for her in his honest, no nonsense kind of way. “We can’t get her to show up and when she does show up, she just edits pictures and eats cookies”. Obviously unacceptable on my part, but he was telling the truth. I had zero interest in my classes and honestly had lost hope on graduation and my future as a whole.

So with only days to put his plan into place and convince the district that it was a good idea, he let them in on what was the craziest idea anyone had ever heard…. college! Against all odds, I spent my senior year enrolled in a graphic design program at a local college. School suddenly didn’t seem so bad, I couldn’t wait to check in with that teacher every week and tell him about all of the new programs I was working with and eat all of the cookies of course. When spring rolled around, I proudly accepted my high school diploma with my classmates. After the graduation ceremony, I ran straight into the crowd to find that no nonsense guy with a big goofy smile and show him, we did it!

I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if that teacher stopped believing in me, just like all of the others had. Imagine, if we treated education a bit more like he did for every student. If back at 15, I would have been allowed to explore my interest, develop my skill set, gain exposure to advanced programs or be informed of the various roles and niches involved in the industry. What if, rather than giving me that silly career questionnaire to suggest different paths, they observed, accepted and embraced the path I was already on.

This man who refused to give up on me and continued to push me, had the title of support staff. He basically handled all of the students no one was able to or wanted to deal with. He couldn’t teach me algebra, he couldn’t explain the solar system and he sure couldn’t win a spelling bee, but he taught me far more than any text book or lecture ever could.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a private photo editor and photographer from Minnesota. Unlike most photographers, who get comfortable with their camera and then begin to explore editing. I had well over a decade of experience with editing before purchasing a camera.

Throughout my twenties, a number of employers I had worked for had either closed or sold. So, I decided to take my career into my own hands. Not knowing exactly where my place was in the industry as an independent editor, it only made sense to explore the industry as a whole.

In the spring of 2015 I purchased my first camera and hit the road. Exploring ghost towns, state parks and historic sites throughout the midwest. After getting the hang of that trusty Nikon, I was given the opportunity to cover local bands and community events. I began offering portrait sessions over time and by the fall of 2016 Crow River Reflections was officially open for business.

As my business grew, I began to network with photographers throughout the United States. I connected with a well established photographer who wanted to spend more time with her clients and less time behind her computer, I began editing for her on a full-time basis. I then met a local photographer who was working on turning her hobby into a business and needed a bit of guidance, I began having twice weekly meetings with her as she worked her way through the process and assisted her with website design, marketing materials and social media management while she prepared to open her studio.

Combining these services has allowed me to create my ideal career. I have narrowed down services to offer only those I love most. I spend my days editing for a great group of photographers and spend my evenings and weekends offering photography services for families, musicians. and my community.

I have enjoyed watching my business evolve over the years and am excited to see what is yet to come!

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Word of mouth has always been the best source of new clients for my business. Though I have many returning clients with my photography services, I see a lot of new faces who book off of a recommendation from their family and friends. Community involvement also plays a huge role in this. I have a number of clients who have reached out because they’ve heard of my business from a local organization or saw photos posted from a recent event.

As for my editing services, word of mouth is exactly how this side of my business was able to launch. It has been hard to make connections with local photographers, but my out of state clients have helped me grow my business immensely. From online reviews to personal recommendations, they are by far my #1 fans!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

My professionalism and policies.

I don’t exactly fit the standard definition of professional. Oftentimes I’ll be sporting jeans, dirty boots and my favorite band t-shirt. However, when it comes to my business and my clients’ business, most seem almost surprised at the level of professionalism I hide under my misleading exterior. I give credit for this to my previous employers, they gave me the experience and tools to navigate any situation that may be thrown my way.

There is no one size fits all situation. Each one of my clients receive a customized service that perfectly fits their needs and I believe this is what has allowed me to stand apart from the crowd.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.crowriverreflections.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowriverreflections
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CRRPhotographyMN

Image Credits
Crow River Reflections